Happy Birthday Everett

Everett had his first birthday! We celebrated with family the week before at the reunion so we didn't do much that day. I made a big cupcake for him and we expected him to completely go at it and tear it apart... but that didn't happen. :) Maybe it was the surroundings, maybe the cake was too bright or too big, maybe it was because we were all staring at him trying to get him to go for it...either way I'm pretty sure he didn't want anything to do with it. :)

After cleaning him off, we let him open his presents. It was mostly Claire opening them for him, but he helped a little. :)

After dinner we tried the cake thing again, but this time with a small chocolate frosted cupcake in his highchair. He devoured it. :)

Things may not have gone like I planned or wanted for him that day, but I'm sure he didn't mind. And now my little boy is a one year old. He's growing up so fast. I love him so much and his cute, funny personality. Happy Birthday Everett!

bryson reunion 2013

we do so love family get-togethers. this year's bryson reunion was an especially fun one. all of my texas family flew up to utah on tuesday morning. we all got together for a little stroll around the mall up in salt lake before i had to head home because i had to work that night. the colorado crew arrived later that night, but we didn't all meet up until the next day in bountiful. the rest of wednesday was spent just socializing with each other. thursday morning was a special one. my little sister mandie had made the choice to take her endowments out at the bountiful temple. it's always such a wonderful experience to gather together in the temple with family. after the session, we all got together with the dedows for a big lunch and some fun. claire had a blast playing with her cousins and everett had a blast playing with the basketball, as long as no one tried to take it from him. :)

after the lunch, we headed over to midway where we would be staying at the zermatt resort. it was a pretty cool little set up. the majority of us were staying in a town home, with the rest of us in a couple suites. the resort had tennis courts, a volleyball court, a mini golf course, a giant chess board, a carousel, and, of course, a pretty nice pool, which is where we spent most of our time.

we took a break from swimming to head over to heber city for my grandma's 90th birthday party. good food and good company, what more can anyone ask for?

saturday afternoon we headed over to park city for some shopping at the outlets, then back to spanish fork to ken and sherry's new house. we had a big birthday party that night for all the kiddos who had recent birthdays. it was a lot of fun.

obviously from this picture, i wasn't too excited to see my boy playing with dolls. :)

sunday we all went to church together, then had a big family dinner. monday we headed up to orem and spent most of the day at the mall shopping (amber pointed out to me that my family sure does love malls). after the mall, we headed over to our place where we bid everyone goodbye. it was such a fun week. we love our family.

A Princess Birthday

Claire turned three years old this last Sunday. She had been anticipating her birthday for awhile and had told me she wanted a princess cake. I took that to mean a castle cake, so as I looked at pictures on pinterest and she saw them, she got even more excited. We realized after choosing all her presents this year that we definitely had a princess theme going on for her birthday, but I think it was perfect. She loves princesses these days. She loves wearing dresses and crowns and she loves dancing and castles. She's our little three year old princess. :)

The day started by going to church. First thing Claire did was tell the door greeter when we got there that it was her birthday. He rewarded her with a high five. :) I'm not sure whether or not she told her nursery leaders but I wouldn't be surprised if she had.

We came home and started the festivities after lunch and quiet time. We made spaghetti for dinner, one of her favorite meals at the moment, and then went ahead and opened some presents, since she couldn't wait any longer. :) I think the princess dresses were a hit - look at that face.

We had a few visitors over to help eat the cake and celebrate with us and as soon as they made it we sang to Claire and let her blow out her candles.

 I'm pretty sure she had a good day. I can't believe she's three! :)

Of course I had to plan a photo shoot for her birthday, so the next day we went up to Tibblefork Reservoir with the dress my sister Lia made for us and a flower crown I made. Claire had no problem wearing the crown and dress and dancing and posing for me. Like I said, she loves princesses. :)

it has begun...

memory made

family vacation - part four

we concluded our trip with the main reason we came down to california - for a tour of mission viejo, amber's hometown. we got to see the house she grew up in (which she says looks completely different now), as well as took a stroll around her high school. we even stopped by her elementary school, which had a fun little park the kids could enjoy. they sure do love swings.

after seeing some of amber's childhood, we hit the road and started the trip back home. we stopped in vegas once again and finished our castle trip with a great view of the castle at our hotel.

after our night stay in las vegas, we were headed home to orem the next day. it was such an enjoyable trip, one that we'll remember for a long time. too bad the kids won't remember it quite as well. i guess that's the value of a photograph - memories captured forever in time.

family vacation - part three

the next day of our trip took us down south to san diego to see seaworld! after running around from ride to ride at disneyland, it was nice to take a nice, relaxed stroll, checking out all the cool animals. while we tried to take it nice and easy, you wouldn't be able to tell it by looking at claire's hair. :)

everett especially enjoyed seaworld. he loved being able to get down, crawl around a bit, and see some colorful animals. claire (as well as us) really enjoyed not having to stand in lines in the hot sun for the majority of the day. from the animals, to the play places, to the shows, it was a fun day.

of course a day on our "castle trip" wouldn't be complete without seeing at least one castle, so while we were in san diego we made sure to stop and see the most special castle of our trip: the san diego temple. after claire and i had a dance at the castle, claire took the camera and took some pictures for us. she is definitely following in her mommy's footsteps. :)